Chicago property taxpayers face a nearly 5% hike this year after a decade in which their bills nearly doubled. The city failed to capitalize on the COVID-19 stimulus windfall like others did.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot pledged unvaccinated city employees will soon be placed on “no-pay status” and face potential termination for failing to comply with her COVID-19 ultimatum. City lists 550 firefighters as unvaccinated.
A financial watchdog report estimated each taxpayer in Chicago would need to pay $43,100 to settle the city’s debt. It stands at No. 2 for big U.S. cities. Blame city leaders for repeatedly making pension debt worse.
Despite claims during Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s speech, his budget documents show a flood of federal COVID-19 aid temporarily shrank Illinois’ deficit but failed to balance its budget. His next budget will not end well.
Nearly 17% of the jobs held by Black Illinoisans prior to the COVID-19 pandemic are still missing, nearly triple the loss of white Illinoisans.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected to unveil $1 billion in temporary tax cuts on groceries, property taxes and gas bills in his new budget. It all goes away just months after he seeks reelection Nov. 8, changing little.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to deliver his fourth budget address today, Feb. 2. Billions in federal relief funds temporarily helped state finances. But without key reforms, state debt will be back to where it was or worse. Adam Schuster joins the Policy Shop to walk through the simple solutions to fix Illinois’ budget.....
A think tank advised Illinois leaders not to use temporary federal COVID-19 relief aid for on-going programs. It would lead to future funding shortfalls.
Published Jan. 30, 2022
“We’ve been going back and forth with the union to have that vote to no avail, so we brought in help from National Right To Work to file everything to decertify.”
Published Jan. 27, 2022 Illinois’ economy was shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, but 2021 was supposed to be a year of recovery. Unfortunately, the policy climate continues to be the state’s biggest liability despite high vaccination rates, great natural endowments, a talented workforce, a large financial sector and a growing tech industry. While Illinois boasts...
The Members First Caucus said the current Chicago Teachers Union leaders see “work stoppages and strikes as the first step, and not the last one.” They want less political activism and more focus on delivering for members and students.
When it comes to pensions, it’s unfair to shove more workers into a broken system while the General Assembly drags its feet on real reform. What if, while we continue working toward constitutional pension reform, we could give government workers the option for more flexibility in their retirement now? Adam Schuster joins the Policy Shop...